1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image editing technology for creating a photo movie by combining a plurality of images.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been known electronic devices and programs for editing materials such as a plurality of still images and moving images to create a photo movie. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-157197 discloses a photo movie creating device that creates a photo movie by combining a plurality of still images. The photo movie creating device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-157197 can adjust the total play time of a photo movie as specified without changing the total count of still images used as materials. To change the total play time of a movie to a total play time specified by a user, this device adds or deletes a scene by moving a specific still image from a scene for which an effect using a plurality of still images is specified to another scene.
The photo movie creating device of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-157197, which edits without changing the total image count even when the user changes the play time, breaks up the story line intended by the user in some cases. For instance, this device may create a photo movie in which images switch at a fast pace although the BGM played along with the photo movie is slow in tempo. Conversely, there is also a possibility in which the created photo movie switches images at a slow pace regardless of an up-tempo BGM. Such a photo movie is a departure from the story line intended by the user and gives a viewer a sense of strangeness.
The photo movie creating device of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-157197 may also break up the originally planned story line by adding or deleting a scene that delivers one of display effects (switching effects set to respective images) when the order of display effects is relevant to the story line of a group of images to be displayed in succession as in a photo movie.